Conquer

  Oh my god. Annie!

  “Um, yes. In fact, we were at The Center today to visit Annie. She was finally released from the mental facility and transferred there. Crap! Detective Troy, you need to get someone over there right now. My parents are there and there are a lot of women and children that live in that facility.”

  I gave Detective Troy the address for The Center and she quickly excused herself to make some phone calls. Apparently, due to The Center being in a different county, she needed to request assistance by another police department.

  I was nervous that something may have already happened, so I borrowed Daemon’s phone to call my parents. Daddy answered on the second ring and I informed them about what we had learned from Detective Troy.

  “Don’t you worry, Paige. You know I have this place wired to prevent intruders, but I’ll keep the building armed at all times for the next couple of days just in case.” Daddy sounded confident that he would keep Momma, Annie and the rest of the residents safe and I ended the call. Walking back over to the group, I noticed that Ava looked upset.

  “Hey, Ava. It’s good to see you again. Why do you look so glum?”

  Ava started crying and Alex answered for her. “Well, that brings us to the reason Ava and I are here. Ava’s car was trashed this morning in front of her apartment. I remembered the description of the damages Chris had done to your bike and David’s car and I know for a fact that sick lunatic is the one who fucked up Ava’s car. I came here to report the incident to Detective Troy and she asked me to wait until the three of you arrived so we could figure out what to do about it.”

  Wow. Chris was apparently a very busy man last night.

  My head fell into my hands. This was getting out of control. People were putting themselves in the crosshairs just by being associated with me. Chris was doing a stand up job of single-handedly ripping my entire life apart.

  Looking back up, I asked, “So what are you two going to do? Ava, can you stay with Alex for a while until we figure out what to do about Chris?”

  Once again, Alex spoke. Ava didn’t appear to be annoyed by his refusal to let her answer, although I certainly was. “I’m taking Ava out of town for a while, Paige. I’m going to go to my parents’ house in St. Pete for a few weeks. I’ll keep in touch. Hopefully, if Chris is caught soon, we can come back early. I’ve let everyone at the shop know to be on the lookout, but I can’t risk staying in town and something happening to Ava because of all of this.”

  I nodded. There was nothing to say. I felt fucking terrible that my friends were being forced to flee because I had to go picking the worst possible person to piss off in the entire state of Florida. Well, wait, Florida is known for some pretty nasty serial killers. Ted Bundy and Aileen Wuornos, to name a couple. Hell, Jeffrey Dahmer was even said to have spent some time down here. Okay, so maybe there were worse people I could have gone and pissed off.

  Detective Troy reentered the room as quickly as she had exited. “Alright folks, I was able to obtain assistance from another police station and a patrolman will be monitoring The Center at all times. Ms. Stone, they should be in contact with your parents shortly to arrange for their presence. I have no doubt that you all have had a chance to talk, so you should be caught up on Mr. Baxter’s other activities last evening, namely that of destruction of property and vandalism. Now that we are all on the same track here, is there anything else we need to discuss before you leave?”

  Daemon spoke next. “Actually, yes. Paige and I have also been going to a gym located outside of town. Would it be possible to have someone in the area checking up on it as well?”

  “I’m sure I can arrange that, Mr. Pierce. Just leave the address with me and I will handle it. Anything else?”

  When we all remained quiet, Detective Troy nodded her head to excuse us. One by one, we stood up and made our way to the door leading to the hall. Just as Daemon and I were about to exit, Detective Troy called out. “Mr. Pierce, Ms. Stone, one more thing before you return home for the evening.”

  Daemon and I turned to face the Detective. A small grin played on her lips. “I want to once again stress that there is a high probability that you have a psychotic man watching your every move. As a result, I ask that you please do me a favor and try to keep all bedroom activities contained to the upstairs. You gave my patrolman quite the show last night. Now my men are arguing over who gets to watch the garage for the next week.”

  My jaw dropped and Detective Troy winked at me before chuckling.

  Well…Crap. That’s embarrassing.

  Chapter Eleven

  As soon as we arrived home, David told us he was tired and walked back to his room to go to bed. I remembered Daemon’s game he wanted to play and I quickly made a beeline for our room. He caught up to me in the hallway, grabbing and pulling me against his chest. His head lowered as he whispered in my ear, tickling me with his lips. “Where are you going, beautiful?”

  “The bathroom and then I was going to jump in a bath…alone…and without assistance.” I was determined to keep my reactions neutral so as not to reveal how Daemon affected me.

  “Tsk, tsk, Damsel. You wouldn’t be attempting to avoid our game tonight would you?”

  My shoulders sagged with my sigh. Damn.

  “Nope. Not at all. I guess you’re invited to join me in the bathroom, Daemon.” My teeth ground together as I attempted to hide my dismay that he was actually holding me to the challenge. It pissed me off that he felt I had such little control of myself. Okay…I’ll admit to the anger part…but not fear and definitely not my ability to resist him. I had to try and be mad at him. If I could convince myself that I was pissed, which I was a little, than I would win this game. I had to remember that he was playing me and I had to stay angry about it. Quickly deciding my course of action, I started my campaign.

  Daemon’s an arrogant ass. Daemon is a jerk. I hate Daemon right now.

  “Don’t sound so thrilled.” His voice was filled with humor as his hand found the small of my back. He led me down the hallway and directly to his bathroom, stopping once to turn off the electric lights and turn on the fire wall sconces.

  Daemon’s a bastard.

  Once we were in the bathroom, he closed the door behind us before opening the cabinets of the towel closet. He turned to smile quickly at me as he pulled out candles and a book of matches. He moved to the bathtub and placed candles along the outer rim. He left the candles unlit as his hand reached to turn on the water. Steam began to rise from the tub. Daemon retrieved some bath oil and promptly dropped some into the hot water. The smell of the sandalwood filled my nose. Of course he would choose sandalwood; it was my favorite.

  Daemon’s a prick.

  He finally lit the candles before walking over to flick off the bathroom lights. His voice purred as when he next spoke. “Take off your clothes, Damsel…nice and slow.”

  Committed to winning this game, I did as he requested. I pulled my shirt over my head and reached behind myself to remove my bra.

  “Stop there.” He moved to stand in front of me. “On second thought, I’ll remove your clothes for you, if you don’t mind. It’s like unwrapping a gift on Christmas morning. You have no idea how much I adore your body, Paige. You are my perfect woman.” His voice drove itself through me, igniting every nerve ending under my skin.

  Daemon is an insufferable, miserable asshat who smells funny and is horrible in bed.

  His fingers tickled along the edges of my bra as he reached around to undo the clasp. Once the material was freed, his hands tickled up the sides of my upper torso. He slipped his fingers underneath the straps and slowly pulled the material from my body. His warm mouth made contact with my skin as he placed light kisses on both shoulders, where the straps had previously been. My knees threatened to give underneath me, but I pulled it together in refusal of losing this game.

  Daemon is a…

  He started licking softly up my neck, taking my earlobe between his teeth as his hands found my br
easts.

  …crap. Daemon is awesome. I love Daemon.

  More.

  Please.

  Don’t stop.

  Apparently my mind was becoming as mutinous as my body. Okay…deep breath…pulling myself together now.

  His hands reached down to unbutton my jeans. He moved down my body to pull and tug the pants off my body, lifting each foot to free me from my clothing. When he slowly removed my panties, I tried to keep my mind trained on mundane thoughts; bills, what I wanted to eat for breakfast the next day, what kind of torture Daemon had planned for me next at the gym. I had to keep myself from thinking about what he was doing to me in order to control my reactions to him. His tongue suddenly flicked across that special bundle of nerves and I lost my resolve, only to quickly regain it. I would win this challenge. I took a deep breath and pulled my shoulders back. This was mind over matter and I was determined to prove myself to Daemon.

  He stood up and locked his eyes with mine as he removed his clothing. My eyes fought to watch his hands as he slowly and deftly undid each button on his shirt. I knew he was holding my gaze to check and see if I would watch him as he undressed. I wouldn’t allow my eyes to leave his. My tongue flicked out to lick my lips and I bit down on it to keep that from happening again.

  “So far, you are doing very well, Paige. I’m impressed.” He was amused. I could tell by the small smile lines around his eyes. Once he was naked, he turned to climb into the water, reaching out for me to join him after he was situated. I stepped into the bath and sunk down, settling myself between his legs. His large hands came up to massage my neck and shoulders.

  “Tell me something, Daemon. Why are you taking so much joy in this challenge? Do you like to torture me?” My question was both honest and sarcastic.

  His body softly rumbled from laughter. “Oh, my beautiful damsel, you have no idea how seductive it is to watch you try so hard to control yourself around me. Kind of like when I first saw you at Tomb. Your mouth said you despised me, while your body screamed for me to touch you. It really was quite entertaining.”

  I let out a humorless laugh. “Whatever, Daemon. I hated you the first night I saw you at Tomb.”

  “Is that so? Fine, than let’s say it’s like the second night I saw you at Tomb. It’s hard to believe you despised me as you were moaning into my mouth while I kissed you in the alley.”

  I thought about his statement. “You’ve got me there.”

  His hands moved up and around the side of my body to take the tips of my breasts between his fingers. He pinched each one causing a shooting sensation to travel down that nerve connected to my core. My hips bucked in reaction and I quickly steadied myself, intent on hiding my reaction. Daemon’s mouth came down to my ear, his warm breath rolling over my skin as he spoke.

  “I saw that.” His body softly shook from his amusement.

  I squared my shoulders. “A momentary lapse. It won’t happen again.”

  His hands released my breasts and slid down the skin of my abdomen. He wore a path down my hips and over my thighs, eventually working his way between my legs. His fingers massaged over the skin of my legs. It felt incredible, yet painful at the same time. “Your thighs feel tight, Paige. You sure you’ll be up to what I have planned for tomorrow?”

  “Does it involve David and the 1980s?”

  “No,” he said through a laugh.

  “Then yes.” I shrugged. “Whatever it is, I’m sure I can handle it.”

  His hands found their way to the apex of my thighs. His thumb moved over to massage the one sweet spot as his fingers explored further south. When he dipped one finger inside of me, I bit down on the inside of my lip to keep from moving against him. Holy shit, this really was torture, exquisite torture. My heart started to speed up and my breathing became erratic as his fingers moved in rhythms on me and inside me. His head angled down so he could watch my facial reactions and I could feel his breath on my skin. My lips ache to find his, but I restrained myself, my nails digging into the palms of my hands.

  “So fucking sexy, Paige. I’m almost jealous of my hand for getting to be inside you first.” His voice dropped an octave lower as he cooed, “I’ll have to remedy that soon.”

  My body shuddered in reaction to his words. I held my breath to try and steady myself. His hands continue to work itself over me and inside me. The lack of oxygen mixed with the heat of the water help speed me to a point of euphoria. My core trembled and quaked over his finger causing him to insert one more. I bit on my lower lip, careful to keep it from being clearly visible on my face. This was impossible. There was no way I was going to be able to keep from exploding at any second.

  “Let go, Paige. I’ll give you this one baby. Let me see you let go.”

  A cry rose through my body, escaping my lips as my head fell back against his shoulder. My entire body spasmed and tingled as a wave of release powered through me. I once again felt freed from my physical body, floating upward on a cloud of ecstasy and bliss. I took in deep gulps of air as my core squeezed around Daemon’s fingers, contracting over and over as he continued moving in and out. Slowly I came down only to be met with a rushing sound in my head, the blood pumping hard and fast.

  Daemon suddenly jerked his hand away, sat me up and spun me around. His jaw ticked and his nostrils flared. He looked dangerous and so fucking desirable at the same time. “I can’t do this, babe. I’ve got to have you right now. I have to have all of you, mind and body, so I’m taking you, Paige, and I want you to show me exactly how I make you feel when I do that, okay?”

  He was giving in? Holy shit! I inwardly high fived myself before responding. “So, you’re conceding?”

  Daemon chuckled. “Couldn’t let that go, could you? Yes, Paige, I’m conceding. In fact, I’m fucking surrendering…to you.” With that he lifted my hips up only to pull me down while pushing himself inside me. “Fuck! You are like a fucking drug, Paige.” He opened his eyes and stared intently into mine. “You are the only thing in this world that can make me lose my mind. Your sharp tongue, the way you fight against me, it just makes me want to shut you up by shoving myself inside you.” He moved my hips against him roughly, driving himself deeper each time. I brought my mouth down to his, my teeth biting softly along his soft bottom lip. He drove his tongue into my mouth, working his way along mine. I quickly climbed to another peak and cried out as Daemon found his own release. My body collapsed on top of his and I was lulled into a euphoric state by the rhythmic movement of his chest. We laid there for who knows how long.

  I must have started to fall asleep because they last thing I remember was Daemon lifting me from the water, drying me off and slipping me into his bed. I was lost on a wave of hormones and exhaustion, overtaken by slumber as soon as my head hit the pillow.

  ~

  ~~Daemon~~

  “It’s getting pretty crowded in here tonight. Do you think we have enough security?” Logan stood with me off to the left side of the bar as we took in the crowd that had formed within Tomb. Every night it was the same thing; men seeking women, women seeking men. Most of the women who frequented this place were half dressed and drunk within an hour of being here. The men weren’t much better, but they managed to keep their clothes on at least.

  “Yeah, we should be fine. I have the normal guys working tonight, but added Jeremy and Mitch. I don’t think we’ll have a problem.”

  Logan eyed me before hesitantly responding. “Okay, Daemon, but Mind Crime is known for drawing in a rough crowd. We could end up having some issues in the pit once they get on stage.”

  “Yeah. I feel ya. I’ll watch over the pit personally tonight. Last thing I need is another fight breaking out. Mitch was out for two weeks after the last one.”

  I waved to Logan as I moved through the crowd to take my normal position on the back speaker of the pit. Logan was always one to worry, the favorite bartender of most customers, the guy really did care about the welfare and safety of our guests. He’d been working for me for sev
eral years now and I was considering boosting him up to management. Truth was, the only thing that man had to worry about was slinging beer, but he was always the first to watch out for any other issues that could occur at the club.

  Climbing over the perimeter railing, I jumped down on top of the speaker at the back of the pit. A few other club goers had already taken up residence on the speakers before me, but I didn’t mind. I sat myself down, hanging my feet over the front edge. Mind Crime would be coming on within the next 15 minutes and I knew the pit would get crazy once they were on stage. My view from the speaker was sufficient so that I could watch over everything that was happening down below. My eyes scanned over the hundred or so people that had started gathering toward the front of the stage, men in primarily black clothes and women in dresses so short and tight, it was like an advertisement for a free ride.

  I was growing somewhat impatient and bored when my eyes locked on the longest pair of legs I think I have ever seen. Even better was the knee-high shit kickers that wrapped themselves around what I imagined to be a decent set of stems. My eyes traveled up to discover a plain black tank top and…fuck…a face that immediately had my pants tightening in response. A beautiful blond came down the stairs into the pit, taking two steps at a time as she made her way down. I looked around at the rough and rowdy crowd that occupied the pit and I wondered if this chick was lost or looking for her boyfriend. She was tiny, I mean, tall, but tiny. Long and lean and dressed for comfort rather than for attention. I couldn’t peel my eyes from her. What the hell was she doing down here by herself? Guess, it didn’t really matter, I planned on making sure she didn’t leave here by herself.

  I hadn’t taken home a girl in over a month. It was always the same thing. Emotionless sex that led to the awkward moment where I told them they needed to get home and ‘no’ I won’t be calling. Most of the time, the women around here didn’t mind the quick night, but there were some that thought a one night stand could turn into something more. I haven’t been interested in dealing with it lately, but shit…in walks this chick and suddenly I need a book to hold in front of me.